A Love That Could Have Been
by Magic Cabbage
Summary: Sequel to A Love That Could Never Be. During a struggle, Merlin ends up sending Morgana flying off a cliff. Fortunately, she manages to grab hold of a tree root, but she won't be able to hold on for long. Will Merlin save her? Or leave her to die? Mergana. Character death (?) Has an alternative ending.


**Hello dear readers! Feast your eyes upon the sequel to A Love That Could Never Be! If you haven't read it, go do that. It's not that long anyway.**

**If you thought that one was sad, just wait til you read this one :)**

**I initially planned this sequel to have a happy ending. But it just took on a mind of its own!**

**Warnings: Character death. Sort of. If you want there to be. (You'll understand when you get to the end)**

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Merlin was sent crashing into a tree as Morgana's spell hit him with full force. He really didn't have time to be fighting with her at the moment. He had to find Arthur before that prat got himself in trouble. Again.

"Oh Merlin, you knew you had no chance of beating me." Morgana smirked, as she approached him. He found that he had lost complete control of his limbs.

Merlin needed to get out of there. Fast. But there wasn't much that he could do while pinned to a tree. He glanced around, and found that they were standing dangerously close to a cliff. If he could just get her over there…

But he couldn't just kill her. Could he?

"You should have joined with me when you had the chance, Merlin." Morgana said, with a nasty sneer on her face. "But you just had to defend Arthur Pendragon. The spawn of the man who killed thousands of innocent magic-"

"Arthur is a good man, and you're Uther's child as well!" Merlin interrupted. "And you murdered him!

"That man was never my father!" Morgana yelled. She summoned an orb of fire and prepared to aim it at Merlin's heart.

'_This can't be the end'_ Merlin thought. '_I need to get back to Arthur!'_

Just as Morgana was preparing to release the flames, she hesitated. A strange look came over her face. But Merlin thought nothing of it. He finally had his chance.

When she had let her guard down, her spell had weakened.

Willing every ounce of magic he possessed, he held out his arms and sent a wave of magic towards the witch. Her strange expression turned to one of shock as she was sent flying backwards. Morgana clawed at the air in a futile attempt to stop herself from falling off the edge of the cliff.

"You have magic..." she whispered in disbelief as she fell.

Her flailing hands managed to grasp a tree root jutting out of the rock just in time. But she wouldn't be able to keep hold of it for long.

Merlin scrambled to the edge, and peered down at Morgana. Her eyes were pleading and full of terror. She looked up at him just as she had when he'd poisoned her years ago. The witch was at his mercy once again.

What would he choose to do this time?

"Merlin… help me!" she pleaded.

Merlin didn't know what he was supposed to do. Seeing her so helpless like that, it was almost as if she had never been a threat to Camelot.

But she had been. She still was. And after all she had done… If he just let her fall, maybe that would be for the best. She had been responsible for so much pain and misery, and was sure to be responsible for more if she continued to live.

"Merlin please! I'm so sorry! "Morgana begged.

If he didn't help her, it would be as bad as ending her life himself. He wouldn't be able to live with that knowledge.

But if she were gone, all the lives that would be saved in exchange…

"Give me one reason I should help you." The young warlock said, in hopes of being convinced.

Morgana thought frantically of what words she could use to persuade him. "I swear I won't attack Camelot ever again!" She lied.

"You once told me that you would rather die than relinquish the throne to Arthur." Merlin said, seeing right through her fib.

Merlin began to walk away from the ridge, and he left her field of vision. Morgana's fingers began to slip. Panicking, she voiced the first thought that came to her mind.

"Because I love you!" she proclaimed.

Her words caused Merlin to freeze in his tracks. Slowly, the warlock spun around and headed towards her.

"Why should I believe you?" he said doubtfully as he looked over the edge once again.

Relieved that he hadn't abandoned her just yet, she began to share with him the tale of how she had fallen for him that fateful day in the forest. And she told him how she had saved his life. **(See previous story of mine: A Love That Can Never Be)**

"So that was you…" Merlin said. "You could be lying to me."

"I'm not," She insisted, as tears began to form in her eyes.

Merlin bit his lip. He couldn't just walk away after she had confessed that. She looked as if her feelings were genuine. And it just wouldn't be right to let her die.

He made up his mind. But just as Merlin reached out his hand to grab Morgana's, and her eyes began to fill with hope, they heard a bloodcurdling scream from far off in the distance.

The scream belonged to Arthur.

"Merlin!" Morgana cried out as she finally lost her grip on the root. But Merlin was already running away. To his king.

_'It's always Arthur_,' she thought bitterly as she fell. At least Merlin knew how she felt now.

Her heart was pounding so fast, it was as though it was attempting to escape her chest. The earth and the heavens swapped places and the world rushed passed her. Her dark hair and the wind whipped wildly at her face, forcing her to shut her eyes.

Suddenly she began seeing flashes what she supposed were some kind of visions.

She saw herself and Merlin lying together in an open field. Laughing without a care in the world. So happy and lighthearted.

She beheld them sitting on gilded thrones beside Gwen and Arthur. Vision-Morgana had been mercilessly teasing Vision-Arthur, whose face was turning a lovely shade of red. Merlin and Gwen were struggling to muffle their laughter.

She witnessed them riding horses through the Amuir woods, and herself helping Merlin free a mother rabbit from a hunter's trap.

The gods of the old religion had shown their high priestess scenes of what could have been.

The sky grew farther and farther away from Morgana.

'If only…' she thought with a serene smile upon her face.

**The end.(?)**

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**Okay there's an alternative ending. If you didn't like the tragic one above, read the part below. If you like tragedy and all that, just skip down to the Author's note at the end there in bold.**

**Happy One:**

As she was about to make contact with the ground, Pegasus flew under her and caught her just in time.

"Oh my god!" Morgana exclaimed as she held on to the flying horse's mane as they soared through the sky.

"Hey Morgana! Merlin sent me. He said he'd very much like to marry you!"

Morgana stared at Pegasus, dumbstruck.

"I'll just take that as a yes. He's got a ring and everything for you! Arthur will be the best man, of course. Merlin hopes you don't mind. "

Morgana just nodded, and began to imagine her wedding dress.

**The end!**

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**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the sequel! A tad shorter than the first, but oh well.**

**Sorry for making Merlin abandon Morgana like that. But honestly, if this happened in the show, there is no way Merlin would choose to save her over Arthur. That's just not how destiny works ._.**

**Please review! Any feedback would be very appreciated.**


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